Jewish Courts Class Participates in Mock Trial

 by Liba Fruithandler, SSLI '28

Today, seniors in Rabbi Chesler’s Jewish Courts class participated in a mock trial. The trial was based on a court case from 2004, in which two mothers had a custody battle over their twin children when they split up. One of the mothers, whom the students called “K,” was the biological mother of the twins, but the other, “E,” had been the one to carry the twins.

In the trial, the class was split into two teams, and each team represented one of the mothers. They were given a text that held the sides of both mothers and more information about the original case.

In order to prepare for the trial, senior Rebecca Bazini said she “analyzed the case” with her team. Her team included herself and fellow seniors Mikey Benlevi and Layna Botwinick. The team “had frequent calls where [they] discussed [their] plan and rebuttals.” Bazini’s team represented the appellant, K, "in her pursuit to regain custody over her biological children." For the trial, Bazini “wrote and read the opening statement of the case.”

Students were highly engaged during the trial. (S. Levenson)

During the trial, the judges asked questions that the lawyers had to respond to without knowledge of the questions beforehand. Bazini expressed that, because of this, she and her classmates had to “think on the spot.” Botwinick remarked that there were “some really great questions, which created even more of a debate.”

Botwinick reported that “both sides had a lot to say” in the end. The entire class had a lively debate, where the participants were interested and had fun.

Liba Fruithandler is a staff writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since January 2025. Liba is currently a sophomore at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: lfruithandler28@schechterli.org